Emma Raducanu’s smile is back. The young Brit broke her three-year U.S. Open drought, winning her first match in Flushing Meadows since the breakthrough 2021 title that changed her life. Radacanu rolled past qualifier Ena Shibahara 6-1, 6-2 at Louis Armstrong Stadium with a 26-minute first set and a brisk one-hour domination.

Emma Raducanu set herself a target of being seeded for the first Grand Slam of 2026 and she is closing in on that goal after an emphatic win in her first match at the US Open. The British No 1 became the first player to win a completed match at Flushing Meadows this year as she hammered Japanese qualifier Ena Shibahara 6-1,

Emma Raducanu defeated Ena Shibahara in the first round of the 2025 US Open, and then struck a confident tone in her post-match interview.